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British Values, SMSC & Cultural Capital

British Values

At Kingsbury Academy we actively promote British Values to ensure that our pupils are prepared for a life in modern Britain. We promote ‘British Values’ through our spiritual, moral, social and culture education which is infused through our school’s curriculum and supports the development of the ‘whole child’. We ensure that all staff are actively working as role models by displaying these values, attitudes, and behaviours to guarantee positive outcomes for all our pupils during our range of broad and balanced opportunities.

‘British Values’ has been identified as:

Democracy:

The ability to understand and communicate are the most important areas of learning.  We ensure that pupils are given a ‘voice’ to communicate. This ‘voice’ could be using words, objects, photographs, pictures, symbols, touch cues, eye pointing or body language.

We empower our pupils by giving them opportunities to make choices about the things that they believe to be important. By valuing each ‘voice’ and by listening and responding to that voice we demonstrate that we support democracy and liberty. We have an active Junior Leadership Team. Our JLT play a vital role in decision-making across school; for example, pupils chose the colour of new school chairs, the performance for world culture day and playground activities.

Rule of law; We involve pupils in setting codes of behaviour; helping pupils to make decisions and choices that are acceptable to the school community and society at large. Pupils are helped to learn to manage their behaviour and take responsibility for their actions.  Staff are committed to providing a consistent and predictable environment within the school and beyond.  We can help some pupils to understand the connection between actions and consequences. This type of environment enables pupils to feel safe and secure; this, in turn, promotes the optimum conditions for learning to take place.

Individual liberty: Our pupils are encouraged to become good and valued citizens. We are very ambitious in supporting each pupil to become as independent as possible. We endeavour to demonstrate that everyone has rights; this includes the right to say ‘No’ to ideas or activities that they do not want to take part in. Some pupils will be able to take responsibility for roles and to understand that with certain rights comes a level of responsibility. Developing independence is at the forefront of everything we do. Learning to do things independently is an important part of learning to understand yourself. We support others by participating in charitable events such as, Children in Need, as well as fundraising for selected charities, such as Muscular Dystrophy Charity. At Kingsbury Academy, we believe that by nurturing our children to be caring and helpful and by learning to be independent, we can boost and foster healthy self-esteem.

Mutual Respect:

We promote each pupil’s inclusion in a range of activities, settings and locations. Within school, pupils work with a range of people and interactions with others are always positively promoted on a personalised basis for each individual. This may include working with pupils from other classrooms and outside agencies such as Open Theatre and Jessie’s Fund. The curriculum is personalised and planned for pupils and may include transitioning within a range of settings on site as well as going into the community to interact with a range of people. We have links Tesco Ricoh Partnership, where our pupils have an active role within their community by supporting Tesco Ricoh's community grants scheme, Christmas toy appeals and other fundraising opportunities. Pupils have learnt a wide range of world of work skills as well as becoming active citizens who are visible to their local and wider community. In addition to this, they have not only provided awareness of additional needs to their colleagues but also to the customers in store. It is important to facilitate opportunities for Kingsbury Academy to be part of the community, as the pupils, families and staff have much to offer in the development of community cohesion.

Tolerance of those of Different Faiths and Beliefs:

Kingsbury Academy serves a multi-faith community where each person is respected and valued equally without regard to ability, gender, faith, heritage, or race. Cultural appreciation and development forms part of our curriculum. We place great emphasis on providing encounters and participation in events and celebrations to broaden all pupils’ experiences and awareness of others. Our assemblies help all pupils to find out about themselves and others linking their lives to the communities in which they belong. The themes cover areas such as: friendships, helping others and celebrations from a range of faiths and world events. Pupils are encouraged to experience British Culture through our curriculum themes. Although some pupils at Kingsbury Academy may find it difficult to articulate their feelings and concerns, staff are attuned to changes in demeanour and well-being that may indicate anxiety. If they are concerned about a pupil, staff follow policy and procedures which ensures there is a robust system to actively protect and promote the welfare of children. The staff work closely with parents, carers and other professionals to ensure that the pupils at Kingsbury are happy, well cared for and enabled to learn the skills they need to live a fulfilling life as part of their community.

SMSC

Spiritual:

  • Every opportunity is taken to explore, respect and value others’ faiths and beliefs through curriculum themes and celebrations e.g. Eid Celebration, Diwali, and our whole school Culture and Diversity Day.
  • Pupils at Kingsbury have opportunities to explore beliefs, respect values and discover themselves and each other through communication and interaction lessons where they have opportunities to make requests, communicate information and develop listening and understanding skills.
  • Through community participation, pupils have opportunities to explore their surroundings by first investigating our outdoor learning spaces before moving into community-based learning.

Moral:

  • Developing an understanding of right and wrong both in school and out of school is promoted daily through our school values.
  • Personalised behaviour support plans enable pupils to regulate their behaviour so that the impact on themselves and those around them is minimised.
  • Pupils take part in regular fundraising events for charities like Jeans for Genes Day and Comic Relief to give pupils a sense of self satisfaction and enjoyment of success.

Social:  

  • Every pupil has a reason, means and opportunity to communicate and influence their world in a way that is personalised for them; examples include Alternative and Augmentative Communication and Objects of Reference.
  • All pupils have a voice that is listened to and demonstrate how democracy works by actively promoting democratic processes within the Junior Leadership Team.
  • Pupils attend extracurricular activities such as lunch time clubs and our half term activities.

Cultural:

  • Annual Awareness days alongside religious celebrations such as EID and Diwali enable our pupils to gain understanding of various faiths, cultures and beliefs in a meaningful way.
  • The cultural development of our children is supported through opportunities to engage in experiences such as Open Theatre, Jessie’s Fund, Coventry’s Special Children’s Pantomime, Tesco Fundraising, Tesco work experience and National Trust Partnership Project.

Cultural Capital

We recognise that for pupils to aspire and be successful in the wider areas of their lives, they need to be given rich and sustained opportunities to develop their cultural capital. The cultural development of our children is supported through opportunities to engage in experiences such as Open Theatre, Coventry’s Special Children’s Pantomime, Tesco Fundraising and work experience and National Trust.